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Prestressed/post-tensioned
concrete bridges
129
1 2
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1 2 3 4 5
Tensioning of Concrete Release of Member
Stage prestressing Full load
strands placement strands installation
Location 1
(at transfer
length)
Location 2
(at midspan)
(b)
Figure 5.1 (a) Prestress loading stages. (b) Stress distribution at various loading stages.
Raised tendons
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(a)
All tendons
Partial tendons
sheathed
(b)
Figure 5.2 Prestressing strand profiles. (a) Harped strands. (b) Debonded strands.
The dashed lines indicate debonding material around prestressing strand.
Figure 5.3 Harped prestressing strands. (Data from FLDOT/Corven Engineering, Inc.,
New Directions for Florida Post-Tensioned Bridges, Volume 1: Post-Tensioning
in Florida Bridges, Florida Department of Transportation, Tallahassee, FL,
February 2002.)
Figure 5.4 Post-tensioned beam before concrete pouring and post-tensioning. (Data
from FLDOT/Corven Engineering, Inc., New Directions for Florida Post-Tensioned
Bridges, Volume 1: Post-Tensioning in Florida Bridges, Florida Department of
Transportation, Tallahassee, FL, February 2002.)
Detail A
(a) (typical)
B Cantilever tendons
(b) Detail A
Figure 5.6 (a–c) Cantilever post-tensioning tendons anchored on the segment faces. (Data
from FLDOT/Corven Engineering, Inc., New Directions for Florida Post-Tensioned
Bridges, Volume 1: Post-Tensioning in Florida Bridges, Florida Department of
Transportation, Tallahassee, FL, February 2002.)
Detail A
(a) (typical)
CL Pier Closure joint Closure joint CL Pier
B
(c) Detail A Section B–B
Figure 5.7 (a–c) Interior span post-tensioning for span-by-span construction. (Data from
FLDOT/Corven Engineering, Inc., New Directions for Florida Post-Tensioned
Bridges, Volume 1: Post-Tensioning in Florida Bridges, Florida Department of
Transportation, Tallahassee, FL, February 2002.)
sis can be categorized into two major groups (which are described in the
following sections): (1) tendon modeled as applied loading and (2) tendon
modeled as load-resisting elements (Fu and Wang 2002).
Tendon
P
Central axis
(a) (b)
Central axis
(c)
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Figure 5.8 Equivalent load through discretization of the tendon force. (a) Tendon as
external force of an element. (b) Equivalent tendon force of an element.
(c) Equivalent tendon forces along the central axis of the beam.
Central line of
pier
c4
P
c1 C.G.C e2 c3
c2 e4
yti e3
e1
M1 weq3 M4
P p
weq1
weq2
e1 = yti − c1 e4 = yt1 − c4 weq3 = 2P(e4 − e3)/(0.1L)2
e2 = c2 − yt1 c3 = (c2 − 5c4)/6 M4 = Pe4
weq1 = 2P(e1 + e2)/(0.4L)2 e4 = yt1 − c3
(b) M1 = Pe1 weq2 = 2P(e2 + e3)/(0.5L)2
Figure 5.9 (a) and (b) Post-tensioning equivalent loads for two-span continuous bridge.
(Data from Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, Precast Prestressed Concrete
Bridge Design Manual, 3rd Edition, 2011.)
are used more in research or forensic analysis (LUSAS 2012). For post-
tensioning, the tendons can be either external or internal where internal
tendons can be either bonded or unbonded (Figure 5.12).
Rigid link
(c)
Figure 5.10 Tendon modeled as an element linked to the concrete member. (a) Tendon
as element. (b) Tendon element geometry. (c) Finite element modeling of
the segmentally erected bridge with post-tensioning tendons.
Prestressed
bridge
Cast-in-place Precast
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Post-tensioned Pretensioned
Unbonded Bonded/grouted
Composite NA
Noncomposite NA
Figure 5.13 2D model with its associated neutral axis (NA) locations. (a) Framing plan.
(b) Cross section.
model, moments and shears are direct results from analysis, and there is
no need to integrate stresses to get beam moments for strength limit state
capacity check. No matter which code is adopted for design, stress limits
for concrete and steel are always given.
On the other hand, the 3D modeling technique has become more sophis-
ticated and more popular nowadays to understand the behavior of a
bridge during different construction stages. Instead of modeling tendons
as applied loading, they are modeled as resisting elements as described in
Section 5.2.2. In routine bridge analyses, prestressed beams are usually
modeled as beams while tendons are modeled as a series of truss elements
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Line “A”
2 1/2′′ CL Structure
Barrier rail
Concrete slab
9′′ Class “C”
5′′ curb
(TYP)
Profile
3′ 6′′
grade Slope: 1/4′′/FT.
Slope: 3/16′′ / FT. Slope: 3/16′′/FT.
1′ 8′′
6”
Post-tension
6′ 7′′
concerte beam
(TYP)
Typical section
(b) Scale: 1/46′′ = 1′ 0′
141
Figure 5.14 (a) Five-span precast and (b) prestressed concrete bridge made continuous with post-tensioning tendons.
A B Midspan C
T3 T3 T4
T1
A B C
(a)
Flat square
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anchor plate
system
T3
T3
T2
T2
T1
T1
T4 T4
T3
T2
T1
Figure 5.15 Post-tensioning (a) layout and their (b) cross sections at the end span of a
continuous precast prestressed/post-tensioned concrete bridge.
In the process three 2D beam models with different section properties are
built. The first noncomposite sectional model with different levels of ten-
don forces is used for stages 1, 2, and 3. The second short-term composite
sectional model with full tendon forces is used for stage 4, whereas the
third long-term composite sectional model with full tendon forces is used
for stage 5. Note here that short-term and long-term composite sections are
used by AASHTO to refer to the section properties of n and 3n, respectively,
where n is the modulus ratio between steel and concrete materials. For the
consideration of pretensioning/post-tensioning tendon modeling and its
0.5
0.0
−0.5
Prestress
Stress (ksi)
−2.0
−2.5
−3.0
0 65 130 195 260 325
(a) Distance (feet)
0.5
0.0
−0.5 Prestress
Stress (ksi)
−2.0
−2.5
−3.0
0 65 130 195 260 325
(b) Distance (feet)
Figure 5.16 (a) Top and (b) bottom stresses of a five-span precast, prestressed concrete
bridge.
To build the model for VBDS, the following steps must be completed:
The vertical position of these elements is at the neutral axis of each cross
section, which, together with the horizontal measures, defines the geom-
etry of the beam.
To model the post-tensioning tendons, truss elements are created. Only
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one truss element represents all eight of the individual tendons that are
distributed over the cross section, as seen in Figure 5.17. The geometry
of the tendon is approximately at the middle of the actual positions. It is
important that they end at the same vertical location as the beam elements,
so that they can be connected with vertical rigid elements. Therefore, the
line that represented the geometry of the tendon was cut with vertical
lines placed at every two, three, or even four elements of the beam. Again,
it was more important to have the connection at the suitable positions,
rather than have intervals with the same number of elements between
them. Suitable positions are (1) at the anchorage of the tendons, (2) at the
middle span, (3) over the pier, and (4) where section changes occur. The
tendon is divided between these points if the remaining length is longer
than four elements or if a straight line between these points would fail to
keep the geometry of the tendon.
Figure 5.21 shows the beam and tendon elements connected with rigid
elements. The two horizontal lines are not used for this model but are used
to assist in visualizing the upper and lower edges of the cross section. The
shade scale changes of beam elements as shown in Figure 5.21 indicate the
change of cross section. Different cross sections with different areas of steel
are used for truss elements to simulate the changes of total strands in the
longitudinal direction.
The boundary conditions stay the same as those for Model 1. In
Figure 5.22 the right part of Model 3 is shown. Notice that the support
Z XX X Z XX Z XX Z XX
X Y Z XX YY ZZ X Y Z XX YY ZZ X Y Z XX YY ZZ X Y Z XX YY ZZ
Figure 5.22 Boundary conditions of Verzasca 2 Bridge model 3.
Besides the structural weight, Model 3 also takes into account the post-
tensioning forces. Although this model considers the bridge built all at
once, the definition of the loads already includes the incremental loads.
Therefore, instead of defining the structural weight of the whole model,
the weights are divided into six construction stages. The tendon forces
are also defined as they are applied on the structure during construction.
These forces will be discussed in Model 4 for the construction stages. For
this model, it is assumed that all these loads are applied at the same time.
The time sequence of the construction stages has been assumed according
to the dates that the plan for each stage was checked. Table 5.2 shows the
dates and the assumed construction time.
beam is one-third of the total torsional inertia. This distribution is used for
the three different cross sections along the bridge axis.
To simulate the transverse flexural rigidity, the section properties of the
virtual connections are calculated according to Bakht and Jaeger (1985),
where the following equations are given for cellular structures:
Dy = 0.5 * Ec * t * H 2 (5.1)
Dyx = Gc * t * H 2 (5.2)
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where:
Dy is the transverse flexural rigidity
Dyx is the transverse torsional rigidity
t is the thickness of top and bottom flanges
H is the height between the centerline of both flanges
The acting forces are also distributed to the three beams. The structural
weight is divided according to the axial areas. The tendon forces are easily
distinguished, because they are located in the webs. The sequence of the
construction stages and their loads are the same as those in Model 4.
−28625
−26778 −25850
−22107 −23599
−18898 −19355
−15492
−12992 −12983
−10014 −10472 −10864
−8285 −6015 −3624
−5173 −3552 −6004 −3347 −3674 −3521
−306 −2310 −1203
−420 0
3084
4498 5532 6997 6802 6149 5517
8430 7204
9687 8498
11701 12756 10568
15966
18909
−29647
−27777 −27123
−26530
−25411
−24006
−22512
−20827 −19706 −19859
−18252
−16571 −15569 −16083
−14248 −13905
−12645 −13379
−11695 −11734 −10780
−9895 −10499 −9456 −10286
−9048 −8182 −8155
−7006 −7038 −7716
−5725 −5686 −5716 −5881 −4421
−4907 −4831 −4224 −4894
−1888 −2674 −1981 −3257 −2334 −2614 −1764 −1934 −1810
1279
−319 −12 144 689 441 −248
1616 1923
3898 2820 3198 3138
4787 4779
5880 6226 5904 5478 5576
6914 7625 7615 7002 6553
10132 8846 9449 10272 10176
13847 12006
15652 15111
18352
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Figure 5.27 Vertical moments due to structural weight, Verzasca 2 Bridge model 3.
−13942 −13912
−10364 −10332 −10319 −10917 −10907 −10086 −9693 −9406
−6602 −6479 −6131 −6796
−5573 −4538 −5017 −5250 −4586 −5095
−2780 −3908 −2750 −2200
−2105 −1787
−28 −479 −24
3698 3390 4237 4076 3626 4621
6226 5083 6074 6114
8999 8934 7893 7801 7879
9278
10892
13545 13658 12647
15044 14037
16252 17388
21088 21123 20194 20617
22467
27844 27056
28849 27886
29963 30384
−22637
−17868 −16501 −17315
−15423
−10911 −9756 −11030 −10830
−6652 −5747 −6943 −6888 −6850 −5389
−2722 −2811
−319 −1303 −1677 1994 463 −784 −248
2502
5102 6563 5200 5023 6759
9117 7261 9166 8247
10789 12247 11308 10955 11227
15807 14399 14691 12540
16482 16211 14730
16634
18820
22402 23658
Figure 5.29 Accumulated moments due to structural weight and creep effect, Verzasca 2
Bridge model 4.
Figure 5.30 Accumulated moments due to structural weight and post-tension, Verzasca 2
Bridge model 4.
the first stage, and not 0, because the first construction stage ends 3.75 m
over the support. Once span 6 is built continuously to span 5 in the second
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stage, the negative moment over pier 5 increases to around 7800 kN-m.
Due to the structural weight of span 4, the moment over pier 5 decreases to
3700 kN-m and increases again with the structural weight of span 3, and so
on. In Figure 5.30, the distribution shows the addition of all moments due
to structural weight and post-tensioning, each in its corresponding static
system. Note that the cracking moment of the beam is around 12,600 kN-m
for section 1 and 16,380 kN-m for section 2 next to the diaphragms.
Figure 5.31 Vertical displacements due to structural weight and post-tensioning, Verzasca 2
Bridge model 5.
American practice places precast beams from pier to pier and then casts the
diaphragms and the slab in the second step. The bridge US23043 was built
in 2001 in the state of Maryland. It is located on Route 113 and was part of
a multiphase project to create a bypass for the town of Showell. Figure 5.32
shows the perspective view of US23043 Bridge.
The 137.5-m (450′) long bridge consists of four spans, two of 38.12 m
(125′) and two of 30.5 m (100′). The supports and the abutments are
skewed with an angle of 30° to the bridge axis. The section consists of
11 precast and prestressed I-beams and a cast-in-place slab. The same
VBDS program as in Section 5.4 is used in this analysis.
The beam properties do not change along the bridge. The slab, which is
cast in a later stage, will not change the section properties of the beam ele-
ments because the slab is modeled with additional elements.
The supports are modeled as truss elements and prevent the verti-
cal displacements of the beam elements at these points. At the bottom
end of the truss elements, all displacements and rotations are restricted.
Figure 5.34 shows the restricted displacements with X, Y, or Z and the
restricted rotations with XX, YY, or ZZ at the end of the elements. In all
55 supports of the four spans, 11 beams have the same boundary condi-
tions in the first construction stage. Once the diaphragms are added, all
rotations of the beam are admitted. Then the lateral displacements are
restrained only at the abutments and the longitudinal displacements at
one end of the bridge.
In the model, these six stages are simplified into four. Stage 4 is included
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Figure 5.36 Displacements in the beam due to structural weight and prestressing,
US23043 Bridge model 1.
Figure 5.37 All displacements in the beam based on AASHTO, US23043 Bridge model 1.
1 2 3 4
86.9 m 137.2 m 86.9 m
18.3 m 18.3 m
7.32 m
2.74 m 2.74 m 2.74 m
15.54 m
(a)
0.61 m 0.23 m
0.23 m 0.23 m 0.61 m
1.07 m 1.07 m
(b)
Side-span approach
18.3 m CL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 22 36 37 38 39 40
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
20 21 23 24 25 26
Center-span closure
Side-span closure 1
(c) Pier
Figure 5.38 (a) Bridge elevation profile, (b) bottom slab thickness variation, and (c) seg-
ment division.
The haunched girder is cantilevered from the piers using cast-in-place segments
and is later made continuous with short, conventionally erected, cast-in-place
segments near the abutments and with the adjoining cantilevered girder at
midspan. Each cantilever segment is post-tensioned to the previous segments
with several cantilever tendons. After the closures at the abutments and at
midspan, the entire bridge is prestressed with several additional continuity
tendons, extending the full length of the bridge. In this example, there is no
18.9 m
9.75 m
0.37 m avg.
7.32 m max.
2.44 m 2.74 m min. 0.51 m
Pier Girder
distinction between the 2D and 3D models, except that the 3D model can be
used for other purposes such as wind-load and stability analyses, which will
be discussed later.
The modulus of elasticity of the prestressing tendon is 1.9 × 105 MPa.
The modulus of elasticity of the concrete girder is 2.86 × 104 MPa. The
geometry properties for the girder cross section, pier cross section, and
tendons are listed in Table 5.4.
The unit weight of the concrete of this bridge is 24.8 kN/m3. In total,
37.2 kN/m will be imposed along the deck after closure. For comparison
purposes, the live loading is four lanes of AASHTO HS-20 without any mul-
tilane deduction. If the design is based on the AASHTO LRFD specifications
(2013), HL-93 can be employed. The modified ACI 209 creep and shrinkage
tion and tendon prestressing of each section. It takes one week for each
launching and prestressing. At day 100, the 18.3-m long girder at the side
span starts to be cast, and the side spans and the center span close at day
168 and 182, respectively. All prestressing tendons are jacked at a unique
stress of 1393 MPa (202 ksi), and the losses are taken as 15% of the jack
stress. Unlike SFRAME, all losses are simply treated to be a constant along
their path in this analysis by VBDS.
The time-dependent analysis for the 27 years following construction is
performed by a smart step adjustment. The basic step is one week. It will be
increased by one week whenever the differences of two adjacent analyses are
less than a designated threshold or will be decreased by one week if they are
above the threshold. Usually it varies between 1 and 12 weeks.
Table 5.5 shows the results and their comparison between VBDS and
SFRAME. The differences between two numerical solutions are checked.
Stresses of cases for maximum dual cantilever, ready to serve and 27 years
later are shown. Figures 5.40 through 5.43 show some screens captured
from VBDS; they show only the stress distribution on the top flange of the
box girder at the maximum dual cantilever stage, after secondary dead load
imposed, 27 years later, and on the stress envelop of HS-20, respectively.
The jagged stress plots shown in Figures 5.40 through 5.42 are caused by the
axial forces induced by the cantilever or local tendons. Jagged locations are
where tendons terminate. The live load stresses show the smoothness across
the whole girder. The live load analysis indicates that the live load stress
along the girder may be incorrect if it is calculated by using simple girder
principles based on its moment and axial force envelope. Unlike the dead
load, which is already distributed over a statically determined structure
before closure, the live load will cause significant axial force over the girder
(−6300 kN/4000 kN at the center of the main span) because the bridge
is fixed with two piers and the centroid of the girder shapes a flat arch.
Therefore, the main span behaves like an arch bridge. In this case, it may
not be sufficiently accurate to take the extreme moment and its correspon-
dent axial force or the extreme axial force and its correspondent moment to
calculate the stress over the girder in the main span. In VBDS, however, the
Table 5.5 Segmental bridge stresses (kN/m2) and comparisons at the center of the
main span and over the pier
Stage and category Position VBDS SFRAME
Maximum dual TC N/A N/A
cantilever BC N/A N/A
TP −2640 N/A
BP −11865 N/A
Ready to serve TC −4757 −4886
BC −8614 −10405
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TP −3562 −3817
BP −12785 −13407
MC −14100 −17280a
MP −218900 −230500a
DC 1.1 (in) 1.9 (in)a
27 years later TC −5430 −6025 (−5662b)
BC −6158 −3810 (−8774b)
TP −3070 −2658
BP −12700 −13619
MC −3000 1152a
MP −229300 −276500a
DC 4.9 (in) 5 (in)a
Four lanes of HS-20 TC −2215 −2334
BC 2932 3248
TP 2151 1554
BP −2742 −1603
a Measured from graphs.
b Recalculated based on the provided moments and section properties.
BC—bottom at the center of the main span; BP—bottom over the pier; DC— displacements
at the center of the main span; MC—moment at the center span; MP—moment at the pier;
TC—top flange at the center of the main span; TP—top over the pier.
Figure 5.40 Stress (kN/m2) distributions on the top flange of the box girder at maximum
dual cantilever stage.
−9055
−8694 −8720 −8174 −7624
−6812 −7047 −6668 −7189 −7548 −5726
−5351 −5752 −5958
−5336 −5958 −6098
−3827−3879 −3376 −3826 −4806 −4951
−2819
−3472
E121 E123 E125 E127 E129 E132E130E184E180E176E172E168E164 E162E166E170E174E178E182
E186E188E190E192
E160E156E152E148E144E140E136 E138 E142E146E150E154E158
−6 E109
E111
E112
−2720
E113
−4420
E114
−6119
Figure 5.41 Stress (kN/m ) distributions on the top flange of the box girder after closure.
2
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−9084
−8472 −8610 −8428 −8019
−6281 −7249 −6299
−6428 −6035 −6820
−5042 −5327
−3709 −3773 −3266 −3614
−5303 −5520 −5702
−4668
−2684 −4134 −4471
−2795
E121 E123 E125 E127 E129 E132 E130E184E180E176E172E168E164 E186E188E190E192
E160E156 E152E148E144 E162E166E170E174E178E182
E140E136 E138E142E146E150E154E158
−6 E109
E111
E112
−3593
E113
−6074
E114
−8555
Figure 5.42 Stress (kN/m ) distributions on the top flange of the box girder after 27 years.
2
Figure 5.43 Stress (kN/m ) distributions on the top flange of the box girder due to four
2
Figure 5.46 Current layout of longitudinal tendons with the webs’ bent-down tendons.
of the main causes for inclined cracks, which are harmful to long-term
deflections, and that these tendons are actually very effective in limit-
ing the principal tensile stress.
Figure 5.47 Construction of the continuous rigid frame of Sutong Bridge approach spans.
1640/2 1640/2
18
18
32
450 45
32
375
100
1500
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170
375
Figure 5.49 Segments and layout of tendons in the continuous rigid frame of Sutong
Bridge approach spans.
W3 W2 W1
Figure 5.50 Layout of the preparatory external tendons in the continuous rigid frame of
Sutong Bridge approach spans.
there are three external tendons (W1–W3) in the middle of the main span,
with each consisting of 25Φj15.24.
shear force, which can balance the shear force induced by the dead loads.
Therefore, the shear stress in the web will be reduced, and the principal
tensile stress can be effectively limited.
80000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Center of main piers Midspan
Distance from the center of the main piers (m)
Figure 5.51 Shear force provided by cantilever tendons.
50
Distance from the left support of side span (m)
500
00 100 200 300 400
–50
Deflection (mm)
–100
50
Distance from the left support of side span (m)
0 100 200 300 400 500
0
−50
Deflection (mm)
−100
Figure 5.53 Increment of deflections of the bridge after completion without the presetting
internal tendons.